97501: They lived under Communist rule and did not know anything about praying and fasting; do they have to make it up?

I am a Muslim woman from Bulgaria. We were living under Communist rule and we did not know anything about Islam; in fact many acts of worship were banned. I did not know anything about Islam until I reached the age of twenty, and after that I began to adhere to the laws of Allah.
My question is: do I have to make up what I missed of prayer and fasting?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

We praise Allah for saving you from unjust and oppressive
communist rule after it suppressed the Muslims for more than forty years,
during which mosques were destroyed and some were turned into museums,
Islamic schools were abolished and they strove to change Muslim names and
wipe out Muslim identity.

“but Allâh will not allow
except that His Light should be perfected even though the Kâfirûn
(disbelievers) hate (it)” [al-Tawbah 9:32 – interpretation of the
meaning].

Communist rule, with its tyranny and oppression, ended in
1989, to the great joy of the Muslims, who went back to their ancient
mosques, which they refurbished and renovated. They went back to teaching
their children Qur’aan and the hijab of Muslim women appeared again in the
streets. We ask Allah to bring the Muslims back to their religion in the
best way and to support them and grant them victory and defeat their
enemies.

Secondly:

A generation of Muslims grew up in Bulgaria under the
oppression of Communist rule and they did not know anything about Islam
apart from the fact that they were Muslims. The communist regime prevented
them from learning Islam and even banned the import of the Holy Qur’aan and
Islamic books into Bulgaria.

Those who did not know anything about the rulings of Islam
and Islamic worship and other duties are not obliged to make up any of those
acts of worship. If the Muslim was not able to acquire Islamic knowledge and
the rulings of sharee‘ah did not reach him, then he is not obliged to do
anything because Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“Allâh burdens not a person
beyond his scope”

[al-Baqarah 2:286].

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:

There is no difference of opinion among the Muslims that if a
person was living in dar al-kufr (non-Muslim lands) and he believed but he
was unable to migrate (to a Muslim land), he is not obliged to observe
Islamic rituals and laws that he is unable to; rather he is only obliged to
do what he is able to. The same applies to matters concerning which he did
not know the rulings. If he did not know that prayer was obligatory for him
and he did not pray for a while, he does not have to make up those prayers
according to the more correct of the two scholarly opinions. This is the
view of Abu Haneefah and the literalists, and it is one of the two views of
the madhhab of Ahmad.

The same applies to all the other duties such as fasting the
month of Ramadan, paying zakaah, and so on.

If he did not know that alcohol is haraam and he drank it,
then he is not to be subjected to the hadd punishment, according to Muslim
consensus. They only differed with regard to whether he has to make up the
prayers…

The basic issue with regard to all of this is: are the laws
obligatory for one who did not know them or is it the case that no one is
under any obligation until after he comes to know?

The correct view concerning this matter is that there is no
obligation to adhere to a ruling unless there is the possibility of
acquiring knowledge thereof, and nothing has to be made up if it was not
known that it is obligatory. It is proven in al-Saheeh that some of
the Sahaabah ate after dawn in Ramadan until they could tell the white
thread apart from the black thread, but the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) did not instruct them to make up those fasts. Some of
them used to remain in a state of janaabah (impurity following sexual
activity or nocturnal emissions for which ghusl or full ablution is
required) for a while and not pray; they did not know that it is permissible
to pray with tayammum (dry ablution) – as happened to Abu Dharr, ‘Umar ibn
al-Khattaab and ‘Ammaar. But the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) did not instruct any of them to make up the prayers.

No doubt some Muslims in Makkah and in the wilderness
continued to pray facing towards Jerusalem until news reached them that that
had been abrogated (and the qiblah had been changed to the Ka‘bah), but they
were not instructed to repeat those prayers. And there are many similar
examples. This reflects the principle that the early generation and the
majority of scholars followed, namely that Allah
burdens not a person beyond his scope. Things are only obligatory
when one is able to do them, and the punishment only applies when one fails
to do something that is enjoined or does something that is forbidden, after
proof has been established. End quote.

Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 19/225

Based on that, you do not have to make up any of the acts of
worship that you did not know were obligatory.

Our advice to you is to focus on learning the rulings of
Islam and gaining understanding of the religion; try hard to learn Islam and
follow it, and teach the next generation of Muslims, so that they will be
able to face the challenges that face all Muslims, and especially in your
country.